3/3/15 5:50 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

After extending its winning streak to seven games with four wins last week, the LSU baseball team stayed put in three national polls, climbed in one and fell in another. The Tigers remained ranked No. 2 by Baseball America, No. 3 by Collegiate Baseball, and No. 6 by Perfect Game. In D1Baseball’s poll the Tigers climbed one spot to No. 7 and in the USA Today/Coaches Poll they dropped one spot to No. 5. We all know that baseball polls don’t mean a heck of a lot, but it’s interesting to keep up with them to see how the Tigers are perceived on a national level. Personally, I think the Tigers have looked great at the plate and on the mound, but I am concerned about the number of defensive errors committed, especially at the hot corner. The Tigers will have several chances to work out the kinks at 3rd base between now and the start of SEC play, including five games in the next six days. Yesterday Coach Mainieri indicated to the media that he is giving Connor Hale and Jared Foster a look at third base and that Hale will start there today.

In today’s game, senior left-hander Kyle Bouman will get the start for LSU, while Stephen F. Austin will counter with junior left-hander Eric Polivka. Freshman right-hander Doug Norman will get the start for LSU in Wednesday’s game against Grambling. LSU may soon have another viable option at pitcher for the starting rotation as heralded freshman left-hander Jake Latz will throw for the first time this season on Friday, probably on the sideline in Houston, and then will have an MRI on Monday to see how his elbow handled it. If all is well, we will likely see a lot more of Latz in a few weeks.

Now let’s turn to football and continue the series we started yesterday on LSU players who haven’t yet had their time to shine but should make a big impact this season. Yesterday we looked at Travonté Valentine and today we’ll continue with another player who came to LSU with great fanfare but hasn’t yet shown what he can do on the playing field. Here we go…

Clifton Garrett6-2, 242 poundsSophomore linebacker

Clifton Garrett’s freshman season didn’t go exactly according to plan. Hyped heavily with his 5-star rating from 247Sports and Scout, Garrett’s impact felt minuscule in terms of what fans were anticipating from him. That shouldn’t deter fans from getting excited about Garrett in 2015. With Kwon Alexander moving on and the Tigers missing out on linebackers in their most recent recruiting class, Garrett is expected to contribute heavily in his second season.

Garrett will be directly behind Kendell Beckwith at middle linebacker and should serve as one of the interior linebackers in 3-4 sets. Garrett had trouble acclimating to the Tigers’ defense in 2014, but with John Chavis moving on and Kevin Steele stepping in to replace him, Garrett will have every opportunity this spring to make a positive first impression and put himself in a position to contribute significantly.

With the loss of Kwon Alexander to the draft, and with Coach Steele taking over as defensive coordinator and LB coach, the linebacker position will be an interesting one to watch this spring. There are many reasons to be optimistic about the position, including the fact that LSU returns two starters in Kendell Beckwith and Lamar Louis, plus Deion Jones who has significant game experience. If Garrett turns out to be as good as most expect he will, this 2015 LSU linebacker corps could be very special.

While on the topic of football, there’s some news to pass along on LSU quarterback commit, Feleipe Franks. According to this article by 247Sports, Franks had a huge showing at Sunday’s regional Nike camp in Orlando. In fact, his showing was so impressive that it helped earn him an invitation to The Opening, as well as an invitation to this year’s Elite 11 finals, which is a camp reserved for only the best quarterbacks in the country. Franks’ invitation was the first offered by Elite 11 this year.

Yesterday Franks spoke about a variety of topics on the “Culotta and The Prince” ESPN radio show on 104.5 FM, and you can hear the full interview here. Franks was very well spoken and described LSU coaches Les Miles and Cam Cameron as two of the best coaches in college football. In the interview, Franks expressed interest in playing both baseball and football for LSU, and after listening to it I was left feeling more confident than ever that Franks will in fact make it to campus and not opt to play professional baseball instead. Of course, only time will tell.

In basketball news, congratulations are in order for LSU’s Tim Quarterman who was named the SEC Player of the Week after his rare triple double Saturday against Ole Miss. The SEC POW award was the first for an LSU basketball player since Johnny O’Bryant III was named the player of the week on the first week of February 2014, and Quarterman’s triple double (18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) was the first by an LSU player since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992. In fact, there have only been eight triple doubles in LSU history - one by Pistol Pete, six by Shaq and now this one by Quarterman. I’d say that puts him in pretty good company!

A couple more basketball-related tidbits:

• Coach Johnny Jones has already landed a top-15 recruiting class for 2015, anchored by the number 1 player in the country in Ben Simmons and the No. 16 prospect in the country in Antonio Blakeney. Well, now there’s chatter about LSU being in the running for five-star shooting guard Malik Newman, who visited with LSU last month. If LSU should be so fortunate as to add Newman to the mix, the Tigers could easily have the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation.

• As for this year’s LSU Tigers basketball team, they have been peaking at the right time and could go along way in securing a bid to the NCAA Tournament with a win tomorrow against Tennessee at the PMAC. The game, which tips off at 6 p.m. will be televised by the SEC Network, and will be the last home game for the Tigers this season. I hope a lot of you will make it out to the PMAC to cheer them on to victory. By the way, in the latest NCAA Tournament projections, CBSSports.com has LSU as a No. 8 seed.

Last but not least, congratulations are also in order for LSU senior outfielder A.J. Andrews who was named SEC Softball Player of the Week. It’s hard to argue with Andrews being selected for the honor when you consider she went 10-for-11 at the plate with 13 RBIs, seven walks and seven stolen bases in wins over Ball State, Florida Atlantic, Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin in the 2015 Purple & Gold Challenge. The Oldsmar, Florida, native had three triples and a double among her double-digit hits, slugging 1.545 with a .895 on-base percentage.

3/2/15 5:40 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

What a weekend it was in LSU sports! The No. 2 LSU gymnastics team handed Alabama its first home loss in 49 meets, the basketball team dominated Ole Miss and bolstered its postseason chances, the baseball team swept Princeton and collected 30 hits in a day, the softball team improved to 21-0 with five dominating victories (four by run-rule), and the women’s basketball team upset No. 12 Texas A&M to secure a bye in the upcoming SEC tournament. As the best Tiger fan I’ve ever known used to say, it’s a great time to be a Tiger!

Now that the month of March is upon us, in just a few days we’ll be discussing LSU’s spring football practices, which, believe it or not, begin in just five days. As in years past, I look forward to making it out to the practice field a few times during the 15-practice sessions so that I can shoot some video and report on what I see.

In anticipation of the start of spring football, today we’ll begin a series looking at a few Tigers who generated a lot of excitement when they signed with LSU but have not yet had their chance to shine, for one reason or another. Here we go…

Travonte Valentine6-3, 325 poundsRedshirt Freshman Defensive Tackle

If you’re looking for a “newcomer” who’s most likely to make an immediate impact, look no further than Travonte Valentine. Unfortunately for LSU, Valentine missed last season because he couldn’t get cleared academically with the SEC. Now that he’s been taking classes at LSU for a couple of semesters (in December he tweeted that he made a 2.5 GPA in the Fall semester and had been cleared to participate in Spring practice), the assumption is that Tiger fans will get the opportunity to see what this highly-touted defensive tackle has this season. What is that exactly? Well, if you revisit the video highlights from his high school days, you’ll observe a defensive tackle who moves incredibly well for a man his size and is explosive by nature. But don’t just take our word for it — see for yourself in our media gallery.

Valentine’s ability to turn it on and explode through the line of scrimmage earned him a 4-star rating coming out of high school, and with LSU’s early troubles at defensive tackle last year, his absence was clearly felt. Going into 2015, the defensive tackle position should be in good shape with starters Christian LaCouture and Davon Godchaux returning. Add “quality” (Les Miles’ favorite word) depth with Quentin Thomas, Valentine and Trey Lealaimatafao, who missed a majority of the season because he injured his arm by punching through glass last year, (not to mention highly regarded sophomores Maquedious Bain and Greg Gilmore) and the Tigers will have lots of talent to work with at the position, despite not signing any defensive tackles in this year’s class.

While there will be lots of DTs trying to make a positive first impression on the new defensive coaching staff this week, all eyes will be on Valentine, as his arrival into the rotation has been very heavily anticipated. One thing is for sure – this 325-pounder better come into spring training in shape, because Coach O likes his linemen under 300 pounds and agile.

In tomorrow’s report we’ll continue this series on impact players who haven’y yet had their time to shine by discussing another player who will be trying to make a positive first impression on his new position coach. Stay tuned.

As mentioned above, LSU’s Lady Tigers basketball team (16-12, 10-6 SEC) ended its regular season with a huge upset win yesterday, storming past No. 12 Texas A&M, 80-63. The win was huge for Coach Nikki Caldwell and her team not only because it might prove to be just what the Tigers needed to get over the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament, but also because it clinched the fourth seed in the SEC Tournament, meaning the Tigers will receive a double bye in the tournament which begins Wednesday. The Lady Tiger’s first game of the tournament will be a quarterfinal contest on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT in Little Rock.

In softball, LSU put together another dominant offensive show and scored 14 runs on 13 hits to storm past Stephen F. Austin, 14-0, in a five-inning win. Continuing the team’s record start, which now stands at 21-0, the Tigers earned a victory via run-rule for the fourth time in five games and the tenth time this season. Coach Beth Torina simply couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season, and it will be interesting to see where the Tigers land in this week’s rankings. The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow, hosting the Northwestern State Lady Demons at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.

The LSU baseball team will play again tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. (SECN+) and the men’s basketball team will return to action on Wednesday when they host Tennessee. More on each of those games in subsequent reports.

3/1/15 6:10 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

On a beautiful (dare I say “spring-like”) Saturday, I thoroughly enjoyed working outside most of the day with headphones on listening to LSU come away with a big basketball win followed by a double-header sweep of Princeton in baseball. Actually, I spent much of the day listening to the games while going to and from the chicken coop where my daughters and I were observing our broody hen caring for newborn chicks hatched this weekend. Simple pleasures! Anyway, on with our normal order of business…

The LSU men’s basketball team completed a regular season sweep of Ole Miss with a very important 73-63 win at home yesterday to improve to 21-8 overall and 10-6 in SEC play. The win was particularly important as it inched LSU closer to an at-large NCAA berth and moved LSU into a tie for 4th place in the SEC standings. Remember, the top-four teams in the league receive a very valuable bye in the SEC Tournament.

Jordan Mickey shook off a 0-6 first half by scoring several pivotal inside buckets and blocking some key shots as Ole Miss tried to regain momentum in the second half. Jarell Martin continued his offensive dominance by scoring inside and drawing fouls as well as dominating the boards, and after struggling offensively the last few games, Tim Quarterman came away with a rare triple-double (double-digit points, rebounds and assists), punctuated by an alley-oop dunk to Mickey to put the game away in the final minutes. The triple-double was LSU’s first since Shaquille O’Neal had one vs. BYU in LSU’s 1st round NCAA victory in 1992.

Quarterman led the Tigers with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while Martin added 18 points and 12 rebounds. Keith Hornsby nailed four 3-pointers to chip in 16 points, and Mickey scored 11 points (all in the second half) and blocked four shots. Jalyn Patterson added nine points and five assists. For the game, the Tigers shot 43.3% from the field (26-60), 29.4% from the 3-point line (5-17) and 66.7% from the free-throw line (16-24) while holding Ole Miss to 38.3% shooting from the field (23-60). LSU was out-rebounded by the Rebels 44-35 but only committed 10 turnovers while forcing 17.

LSU will play its last home game of the season this Wednesday against Tennessee. Although the Tigers won easily in Knoxville just a couple of weeks ago, Tennessee is a capable opponent and LSU has underachieved in several home games this season. It is critical for LSU to get a victory to avoid a must-win situation at Arkansas next Saturday. The game against the Volunteers is at 6 pm and will be televised on the SEC Network while the radio broadcast will be available on 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge.

After the basketball game, the LSU baseball team concluded its three-game sweep of Princeton by winning two games of a double-header. The Tigers won the early game 7-2, and the late game 15-4, collecting a total of 30 hits in the contests. With the wins, the Tigers are now 10-1 on the season. Here’s a brief recap of yesterday’s two games:

In the first game, Jake Fraley continued his hot-hitting by going 2-for-4 with two triples and three RBI. I wrote in yesterday’s report that it would be interesting to see how Andrew Stevenson’s return to action would affect Fraley’s playing time, but as it turned out Stevenson and Fraley both started in the outfield, along with Mark Laird, and it was Jared Foster who didn’t play in the game. Speaking of Laird and Stevenson, they both also had big nights at the plate in the first game, each collecting two hits in four at-bats with an RBI each. The Tigers collected 10 hits in the game.

Jake Godfrey (2-0) got the start and the win for LSU, lasting 5.2 innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks. After struggling a bit against Southeastern, LSU’s bullpen was once again outstanding as Hunter Newman and Kyle Bouman combined for 3.1 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit a piece. It was good to see Newman have a solid outing as he is someone who could be a very valuable contributor to this Tiger pitching staff. Newman was off to a promising start in 2013 before suffering a shoulder injury that sidelined him all of last season. By only having to use two relievers in yesterday’s early game, LSU’s bullpen was in good shape for the late game.

In the second game of the day, LSU erupted for 20 hits and decimated Princeton 15-4 to sweep the series. Of the 20 hits, eight were for extra bases including homers by Foster (who returned to the starting lineup with Stevenson taking a precautionary break) and Bregman, who each ended with three RBI. The game was such a rout that just about everyone on LSU’s roster got in on the action, including walk-on pitcher Ryan May who pitched a third of an inning. After LSU burned its DH option by moving designated hitter Chinea to 1st base, pitcher Kyle Bouman even got a turn at the plate and collected an infield single. It was that kind of night.

Freshman pitcher Alex Lange (3-0) got the start and turned in his best performance so far, giving up only three singles and striking out six in a six-inning outing. Austin Bain, Russell Reynolds, Ryan May and Hunter Devall combined for three innings of work in relief and allowed five hits between them, four of which came off of Reynolds who was responsible for all four of Princeton’s runs.

LSU didn’t publish video highlights of the late game, but here’s a look at the boxscore.

LSU also took care of business on the softball field with a two wins to improve to a program-best 20-0 on the season. In the first game of the day, the Tigers beat Florida Atlantic 12-4, and in the second game they beat Northwestern State 15-1. For more on those two games, please see this articleon LSUSports.net.

As I do on most Sundays, I’ll leave you today with a couple of good reads to go along with your Sunday morning coffee: